The Song of Solomon
1 The song of songs,a which is Solʹo·mon’s:+
2 “May he kiss me with the kisses of his mouth,
For your expressions of affection are better than wine.+
3 The fragrance of your oils is pleasant.+
Your name is like a fragrant oil poured out.+
That is why the young women love you.
4 Take me with you;b let us run.
The king has brought me into his interior rooms!
Let us be joyful and rejoice in you.
Let us praisec your expressions of affection more than wine.
Rightly theyd love you.
5 I am dark,e but lovely, O daughters of Jerusalem,
Like the tents of Keʹdar,+ like the tent cloths+ of Solʹo·mon.
6 Do not stare at me because I am swarthy,
Because the sun has gazed upon me.
The sons of my mother were angry with me;
They appointed me the keeper of the vineyards,
But my own vineyard I did not keep.
7 Tell me, you whom I lovef so much,
Where you pasture your flock,+
Where you have them lie down at midday.
Why should I be like a woman wrapped in a veilg
Among the flocks of your companions?”
8 “If you do not know, O most beautiful of women,
Go follow the tracks of the flock
And pasture your young goats next to the tents of the shepherds.”
9 “I liken you, my beloved, to ah mare among the chariots of Pharʹaoh.+
15 “Look! You are beautiful, my beloved.
Look! You are beautiful. Your eyes are those of doves.”+
16 “Look! You are beautiful,l my dear one, and delightful.+
Our bed is among the foliage.